Thanks for your input. Is there any place in Scandinavia or the rest of Europe that is cheap and good? There should low/no crime and the food (meat and potatoes and such) should be inexpensive. I imagine Norway is pretty glacial too with all that snow!

No, Scandinavia isn't cheap anywhere. Sweden and Denmark is cheaper than Norway whilst Finland might be slightly cheaper than Sweden but in nobody's imagination can any of those countries be called cheap.

Doing something radically different than what I'm qualified to do, mainly because

a) it's a country that puts an incredible value on pieces of paper and qualificationsb) it's a country that refuses to recognise any qualifications that aren't German andc) no-one here is able to grasp the concept that you might be able to do something outside your area of qualification

Also - don't come to Germany unless you are willing to take the risk that you will turn into someone who has to plan spontaneous meetings with friends 6 months in advance, who will need to separate every piece of rubbish into its component parts so that everything can go to the correct recycling or waste disposal centre and who develops a burning need to police the activity and behaviours of your neighbours and random people you might happen to meet in the street. If you're not comfortable telling some stranger "You shouldn't have done that!" then Germany is not the country for you.

If you move, you have the chance to reinvent yourself (if the place you move to lets you do that).

I'm making money doing things I love to do, but it's a constant social battle here. I'm actually hoping to move to Thailand this summer - just waiting to see if I can go or not.

I bloody hope so.

this is very true and the Behörde in germany are real assholes and verge on Racism..they did not even want to recognize my school notes from the UK..saying i was a "non schüler" (i never graduated from school... but the funny thing is with a good lawyer i got to learn "Kaufmann" which is German Realschule..(Middle school). I only live here because of my Family. your post is spot on..